Fuel pump adjusters



Oct. 2, 1956 v. GUARNASCHELLI ET AL 2,764,942

FUEL PUMP ADJUSTERS Filed NOV. 5, 1955 lll/1,14

j INVENTORS' Bj; l

United States Patent O FUEL PUMP ADJ USTERS Vincent Guarnaschclli, Greenlawn, and Ernst Friedrich Rauch, Syosset, N. Y.

Application November 3, 1953, Serial No. 389,948

7 Claims. (Cl. 103-38) This invention relates to fuel pumps for internal combustion engines, particularly those used in automobiles and trucks, and the main object is the provision of novel, practical and useful improvements in fuel pumps of standard construction whereby, upon failure of the pump or substantial loss of efficiency, caused by wear upon the pump diaphragm, the pump may be quickly restored to proper and efcient operation.

Another object of the invention is the provision of the above-indicated improvements in such a form and mannei that the operator of the vehicle may himself easily make the adjustment required to restore the pump to efficient operation, without requiring the aid of a skilled mechanic and without having to dismantle any part of the apparatus.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of novel means for lengthening the stroke of the fuel pump in order to effectively pulsate a worn or flabby diaphragm which, because of its worn condition, ceases to be flexed by the operation of the cam actuated rocker arm connected to the diaphragm, either completely as it did when new or insuciently for efficient supply of fuel to the engine.

Ordinarily, no provision is made in standard fuel pumps for any adjustment, so that when the pump fails as a result of long continued use, it has been the cornmon custom to replace the entire fuel pump with anew one, at a considerable cost to the purchaser. It has been found, however, that the cause of such failure is that the diaphragm of the pump becomes frayed or otherwise loses its elasticity or flexibility so that it fails to pulsate through the required length of stroke in synchronism with the movement of its actuating rocker arm. It has fur-ther been discovered that such a substantially or partially lifeless diaphragm may be restored to normal synchronous pulsation with the rocker by lengthening the stroke of the vertical stem connecting the free end of the rocker with the diaphragm and hence lenghening the effective pull on the diaphragm. Or this may perhaps be better expressed as follows. The diaphragm is held in position by having its circumferential edge permanently clamped between two flanges. As a result of prolonged pulsation of the diaphragm, causing repeated up and down flexing of the material thereof within the circumferential edge thereof, that material tiresand loses its life If the diaphragm body within the circumferential edge is then shifted to another plane with respect to the plane through its circumferential edge whereby the diaphragm may be said to be stretched, then the pulsating movement applied thereto by the rocker now operates on a more tensed diaphragm and hence the diaphragm will more closely synchronize its pulsations with the rocker.

In practice, it has been found that a shift downward of the central portion of the diaphragm through a distance of one-sixteenth of an inch, is suflicient to cause the diaphragm again to pulsate in complete synchronism with the rocker; in other words, to restore the pump to rice its original efficiency of operation. It has further been found that, after such an adjustment has been made and the pump eventually again fails or becomes too inefficient, a second downward shift through the same distance will again restore it to its original efficient operation.

Another object of the invention is therefore to provide a positive indicating means on the fuel pump in the form of graduations, whereby the operator may be guided to make the proper adjustment whenever required, the said indicating means also serving as an indication as to whether, and through how many stages, such adjustments have previously been made.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of improvements in the fuel pump housing whereby the diaphragm carrying portion of the housing may be easily and positively slid vertically with respect to the housing portion enclosing the cam actuated rod for actuating the rocker, without any danger or even possibility of tilting lthe former housing portion with possible twisting of the diaphragm.

The above as well as additional objects will be clarified in the following description, wherein characters of reference refer to like-numbered parts in ,the accompanying drawing. It is to be noted that the drawing is intended solely for the purpose of illustration, and that it is therefore neither intended nor desired to limit the invention necessarily to any or all of the exact details of construction or operation shown or described except insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away and partly in section, of a complete standard fuel pump for an automotive engine, including the improvements provided by the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view ofA the fuel pump housing of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front view of a corner of the diaphragm holding housing, showing the indicator and graduations indicative of the distance through which the latter housing has been or should be moved downward with respect to the cam rod housing.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 2.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates the standard housing enclosing the cam-actuated rod 11 operated by the engine in the standard and well-known manner. This housing is provided with the usual vertical flange 12 having screw or bolt passages 13 through opposite sides thereof. The diaphragm carrying housing 14 has a flange 15 secured against the flange 12 (Fig. 1) and contains the horizontal diaphragm 16 having its circum-A ferential edge clamped between opposed flanges 17 and 18 at the bottom of the conventional fuel pump chamber 19. The chamber 19 contains the intake pipe 20 and the exhaust pipe 21. A stem 22 extends axially downward from the diaphragm and has a slot 23 in its lower end. A two-part rocker comprises the two parts 24 and 25 joined by a rule-back pivot 26 through which a pin 27 passes, as well as through aligned openings 28 in the reduced lower portion 14a of the housing 14. The portion 24 of the rocker has a cup 29 which fits over the top of the cam actuated rod 11, and a spring 30 normally urges this cup or cap down upon the rod. The other end of the rocker 24, 25 has a hook 31 engaging in the stem slot 23.

The device as so far described above is standard and conventional. When in operation, the reciprocating motion of the rod 11 causes similar reciprocating motion of the hooked end 31, subject of course to the control of Patented Oct. 2, 1956v the rule-back pivot in the well known manner, and hence the hook 31 causes synchronous pulsation of the diaphragm to pump fuel into the engine.

Below are presented the modifications and improvements involved in the present invention. Instead of providing the usual round bolt or screw holes in the flange to be aligned with the holes 13 in the flange 12 to lock the housings 1i) and 14 together, elongated vertical slots 32 are substituted, and the two sides of the flange 15 extend upward vertically as shown at 15a instead of angularly toward each other complementary to the upper portion of the flange 12. At any suitable place as, for example, in the space above one of the slots 32, vertically spaced graduations 33 are marked or provided on the outer surface of the ange. Two special bolts 3.4 are provided to interlock the flanges 12 and l15. Each comprises an elongated substantially rectangular body 35 whose vertical sides are parallel and spaced at such a distance that the body tits snugly yet vertically slidable within the slots 32. From .one end of the body 35, in center alignment therewith, a relatively long threaded stem 36 extends, and from the other end of the body, in alignment with the stern 36, another threaded stem 37 extends, By registering the body 35 in the slot 32 and passing the stem 36 through the hole 13 and applying nuts 38 to the two ends of the bolts 34, it is apparent that the anges 12 and 15 may be releasably locked together. It is also apparent that by loosening one or both` nuts on each bolt 34, the flange 15 may be moved vertically with the bodies 35 riding in the slots 32 and, moreover, with the ange 1S during such movement restricted to vertical movement without tilting. it is further apparent that by moving the ange 15 downward with respect to the ange 12, both the pivot 27' and the hooked end 31 of the rocker are lowered, thus drawing the central portion of the diaphragm downward and stretching the latter. In this new position of the diaphragm, the latter is thus given greater flexibility so that it will more accurately move in synchronism with the hook 31 and will no longer wobble or be abby as it was, assuming that it had been worn by long use.

It is desirable that guide or indicating means be provided to enable the operator to make the proper downward adjustment of the fiange 15. Otherwise, as soon as the nuts 38 are loosened, the ange 15 may drop without the operators being able to tell just how much it has dropped. Further, such graduations are necessary to enable the operator first to note the exact position of the flange 1S with respect to the flange 12 before he makes the adjustment and then to enable him to move the flange 15 the exact required distance. For this purpose the graduations 33 are numbered from zero upwards as far as, if desired, number 5, the zero position being that at which the setting is made at the factory on a new car.

An exact indication is provided in the following manner. That bolt 34 which passes through the slot 32 having the graduations 33 marked thereabove, is further provided, between the stem 37 and the body 35, with a square boss 39, over which a square frame 40 is adapted to register snugly. The frame 4G constitutes the base of an indicator in the form of an arrow 41. Thus, the indicator 41 is securely attached to the said bolt 34 and remains stationary, together with the bolt, as the flange 15 is moved down. The length of the indicator 41 is such that when it points to the bottom graduation which is marked zero the position of the flange 15 is that at which the pump functions properly and as set at the factory on the new car. When a downward adjustment of the flange 15 is in order, it is moved down through one graduation and fixed when the indicator points to graduation 1, and so on as additional downward adjustments are called for. Two or three such adjustments should prolong the useful life of the diaphragm, and hence the fuel pump, beyond the life of the car.

We claim:

1. In a fuel pump structure for automotive engines consisting of a vertical housing fixed to the engine and adapted to have a rod cam-actuated by the engine reciprocate longitudinally therein, said housing having a horizontal opening thereinto through the top thereof and having a vertical flange surrounding said opening, a pump housing having a vertical passage and having a horizontal passage connecting at one end with the lower end of said vertical passage thereof, said horizontal passage having a vertical ange surrounding the other end thereof and adapted to be secured to said first-named vertical flange to form a continuous passage through both of said housings, a flexible diaphragm supported in said vertical passage of the pump housing and blocking the same, said diaphragm having a stem extending axially downward therefrom, a substantially horizontal rocker pivotally mounted on a horizontal axis passing transversely through said continuous passage, said rocker being positioned partly in said first-named housing and partly in said horizontal passage, means partly on said stem and partly on one end of said rocker connecting said rocker with said stem for reciprocating said stern upon up and down movement of said end of the rocker caused by rocking said rocker, means on the other end of the rocker in engagement with said rod for rocking said rocker by said rod, the improvement consisting in means for releasably securing said flanges together, said means comprising opposed horizontal openings through said firstnamed flange, opposed vertical slots through said secondnamed flange, bolts each including a substantially rectangular body portion having an axial length as related to the axis of the bolt and substantially the same as the thickness of said second-named flange and having a Width equal to the width of said slots and registering slidably in said slots, said bolts having threaded stems extending from one end of the Said body portion thereof passing through said opposed openings in said first-named flange, said bolts further having threaded stems extending from the other end of the said body portion thereof, and nuts threadably engaging both of said stems on each of said bolts adapted upon tightening to lock said anges together, said means thereby permitting vertical sliding of said pump housing with respect to said first-named housing and simultaneously constraining said pump housing against nonvertical movement.

2. The device set forth in claim 1, said second-named flange having a plurality of vertically spaced graduations thereon adjacent one of said slots, and an indicator on that one of said bolts in said one of said slots cooperating with said graduations to indicate the distance moved by said pump housing by said vertical sliding thereof.

3. The device set forth in claim 1, said second-named iange having a plurality of vertically spaced graduations thereon adjacent one of said slots., and an indicator on that one of said bolts in said one of said slots cooperating with said graduations to indicate the distance moved by said pump housing by said vertical sliding thereof, said indicator comprising an arm, said arm having a base comprising a non-circular frame, said one of said bolts having a complementary non-circular boss on the said body portion thereof at the base of the threaded stem extending from said other end of the body portion, said frame registering on said boss.

4. The device set forth in claim 1, said second-named flange having a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal graduations thereon adjacent one of said slots, and an indicator on that one of said bolts in said one of said slots cooperating with said graduations to indicate the distance moved by said pump housing by said vertical sliding thereof, said second-named flange having an elongated surface area above said one of said slots, said graduations being positioned directly above said one of said slots in said area, said indicator extending upward from said one of said bolts and having the upper extremity thereof positioned adjacent and adapted to pass over said graduations.

5. in a fuel pump structure for automotive engines consisting of a vertical housing xed to the engine and adapted to have a rod cam-actuated by the engine reciprocate longitudinally therein, said housing having a horizontal opening thereinto through the top thereof and having a vertical tlange surrounding said opening, a pump housing having a vertical passage and having a horizontal passage connecting at one end with the lower end of said vertical passage thereof, said horizontal passage having a vertical iiange surrounding the other end thereof and adapted to be secured to said first-named vertical ange to form a continuous passage through both of said housings, a flexible diaphragm supported in said vertical passage of the pump housing and blocking the same, said diaphragm having a stem extending axially doumward therefrom, a substantially horizontal rocker pivotally mounted on a horizontal axis passing transversely through said continuous passage, said rocker being positioned partly in said rst-named housing and partly in said horizontal passage, means partly on said stem and partly on one end of said rocker connecting said rocker with said stern for reciprocating said stem upon up and down movement of said end of the rocker caused by rocking said rocker, means on the other end of the rocker in engagement with said rod for rocking said rocker by said rod, the improvement consisting in means for releasably securing said anges together, said means comprising aligned bolt-receiving openings in both of said anges and bolts positioned in said aligned openings, said boltreceiving openings in said second-named ange comprising vertical slots having a width equal to the width of that portion of the bolt positioned therein thereby preventing horizontal displacement of said second-named ange and hence said pump housing with respect to said first-named flange and hence said first-named housing While permitting vertical displacement of said second-named flange and hence said pump housing with respect to said first-named flange and hence said rst named housing, and means for releasably tightening said bolts to lock said flanges together.

6. The device set forth in claim 5, said second-named ange having on the outer exposed face thereof a plurality of vertically spaced graduations adjacent one of said slots, that one of said bolts positioned in said one of said slots having a non-circular boss thereon, an indicator arm having a complementary non-circular frame on one end thereof having said frame registering on said boss, the other end of said indicator arm being positioned in a plane parallel with the plane of said graduations and adjacent thereto.

7. The device set forth in claim 5, said bolts having substantially rectangular enlargements thereon registering slidably in said slots, said enlargements having a width equal to the width of said slots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,420,225 Chilcott May 6, 1947 

